Why Josh Ho-Sang is the Islanders “X-Factor”

On December 10th the New York Islanders called up prospect Joshua Ho-Sang from Bridgeport, and so far he has looked solid offensively and defensively in his first few games.

Ho-Sang has been through hell and back with the New York Islanders organization. He’s been talked down upon by media, coaches and even upper management through his five year tenure as an Islander. However, he still wants to be apart of this team’s future and bring a Stanley Cup back to Long Island.

So far in the AHL, Ho-Sang has scored 22 points in 26 games. Despite scoring only two goals, Ho-Sang improved his game in Bridgeport and has been a major factor in their successful start the 2018-19 season. Ho-Sang is a very skilled and elite playmaker and has once again proven that with the Islanders this year.

Ho-Sang’s long awaited debut came against the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 16. During that night the Coliseum was in awe of the 22-year-old, as every time he was skating with the puck through the neutral zone the excitement in the arena was palpable.

One notable moment in this game was Ho-Sang’s near-assist to Leo Komarov. He started the play by dangling by Jonathan Ericsson, which led to a two-on-one with Komarov, and Ho-Sang made a beautiful pass around Luke Witkowski. The pass left Komarov with a wide open net, but the pass was a little inside and he could not get his stick down in time.

Another notable takeaway from this game was seeing that during the final five minuets of the third period, H0-Sang was replaced by Anders Lee as Islanders head coach Barry Trotz wanted the more experienced veteran to close out the game. While this was a slight negative for Ho-Sang, he took it as a teaching moment.

After this game, things got even better.

In Ho-Sang’s next two games he showed elite playmaking ability, improved defense, and offensive prowess. Even Barry Trotz has taken notice of the slick play by the young winger.

“If he continues down that path of playing the right way, he’ll have a chance to be a regular guy, night in and night out. He’s a high-end talent. We’re trying to make him into a high-end player.”

Having Ho-Sang with the Islanders can be a major factor. While playing with Valtteri Filppula and Leo Komarov, Ho-Sang has vastly improved the line. The lines the Islanders have currently been running have been very successful as they’ve dominated each of their last three games prior to last night’s loss and have been very impressive both offensively and defensively. The Ho-Sang train has pulled into New York. Now it’s time for Josh to continue his solid play and help the Islanders stay hot and win games.